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Each family, among the animals as well as among the plants, comes from the same origin, and even that all animals are come
from but one animal, which, in the succession of eras . . . has produced all the races of animals that now exist.

George Louis LeClerc, Compte de Buffon (1707-1788)

There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into
a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from
so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. (OOS, 6th Edition, 1872)

Darwiniana : by Thomas H. Huxley, President of Royal Society. Here Huxley summarizes evidence for evolution, before, during and after Darwin's life, and Darwin's enduring influence on the course of scientific thought.

Darwin On Race and Slavery : So, was Darwin a racist? By today's more enlightened standards he probably was, in that if you were to ask him straight out if Europeans were intellectually superior to non-Europeans, he would no doubt have said that they are. In this, he was a man of his time and place. This had nothing to do with his evolutionism because there were many creationists at the time, Louise Agassiz for example, who not only considered non-Europeans inferior, but who denied that whites and blacks were even the same species!

About Darwin : A website on the life and times of Darwin. There are a variety of quotes, links, book reviews and memorabilia here that will help supplement material in standard biographies.

The Huxley File: A trove of essays by "Darwin's Bulldog," letters, photos, and other Huxleyana. Huxley expounded on topics as diverse as the ideal school curriculum and whether a frog has a soul, and you'll find nearly 700 of his pieces here.

Principles of Geology: Being An Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface, by Reference to Causes Now in Operation. Volume 1, 1830; Volume 2, 1832; Volume 3, 1833
Lyell's three volume work was a tremendous influence on Darwin's intellectual development. Darwin received his copy of Lyell's volume 2 just before he sailed on the Beagle, and took it with him to read and study. Darwin and Lyell carried on an extensive correspondence. This is a downloadable version of the entire work.

Paley's Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity [12th ed. 1809]. Abridged version. Darwin was, during his university years, a student of Paley writings, and much of what Darwin later wrote was in direct refutation of Paley.

Misquoting Darwin

Did Darwin Recant?: Answers in Genesis admits Lady Hope Myth is untrue: It therefore appears that Darwin did not recant, and it is a pity that to this day the Lady Hope story occasionally appears in tracts published and given out by well-meaning (and sometimes not-so-well-meaning) people.

Did Darwin Become a Christian on His Deathbed? : from Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. "We would have liked to conclude that, on balance, her account is truthful, but there is also much against it, and we cannot come to a firm conclusion either way." [ i.e., stop the false witness, folks. ]

How to Misuse Darwin : by Massimo Pigliucci (includes Lady Hope Myth). This is a review of Darwinian Myths: The Legends and Misuses of a Theory by Edward Caudill.

Darwin's Religious Beliefs : I have placed partial variorum text [1892, 1896, 1958], online so that readers may examine Darwin's own words found in his posthumous autobiography as well as those of his family regarding his beliefs.

What Did Darwin Really Say About Eyes? : On this page about the evolution of eyes I have included the parallel texts from the 1st and 6th editions of On the Origin of Species. You can read what Darwin said after the usual quote by fundamentalists, often cited to distort Darwin's position.

Misquoting Darwin and Other Evolutionary Biologists

The Quote-Mine Project Creationists and proponents of ID have provided several lists of quotations from evolutionary biologists which they claim somehow disprove evolution.
This site takes each such quotation in turn, putting it in full context and showing how it distorts
or misrepresents what the writer was actually saying.